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Wednesday, 14 March 2018

Top Ten Rolling Stones Songs

I know, it's been "all photography all the time" here at TOP lately. But this is "Open Mike" day, and this is easy to type.

Gimme Shelter

Sympathy for the Devil

Midnight Rambler (live version)

Tumbling Dice

Satisfaction

Monkey Man

Harlem Shuffle*

Wild Horses

Shattered

Can't You Hear Me Knockin'

Simple; obvious. No one can have any arguments with that. :-)

Mike

*NY mix, from Rarities

P.S. This will be the last off-topic post for the rest of the year, I promise. Except for maybe one or two.

Original contents copyright 2018 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)Featured Comments from:

MarkB: "0. Paint It Black."

hugh crawford: "No Paint It Black?"

Jim Metzger: "Can we give Paint it Black Miss Congeniality?"

Dave Levingston: "Strange...my list has Paint It Black at the top...."

Josh Hawkins: "Paint it black. It's not just the best Rolling Stones song, it may one of the top 10 rock and roll songs period."

Romano: "¿Angie?"

Michel: "When you take a typing break I suggest listening to this bit from Tig Notaro—the first three minutes or so of the clip."

Mike replies: I've heard this in the car on Sirius XM. It's a wonderful little bit. Love it. Thanks for the link.

Andrew Lamb: "'You Can't Always Get What You Want' would be on my top ten. About ten years ago, I had to photograph L'wren Scott's fashion collection in New York. She was doing small presentations in a suite at the Pierre. It was just the fashion writer, L'wren Scott, a model, and yours truly. It was odd to see Mick Jagger bound into the room, wearing just a pair of boxers. I diplomatically lowered my camera. Needless to say, he knew the fashion writer and chatted amiably about the recent fashion shows. It was an odd way to meet him."

Jim A.: "It makes sense for you to be in music mode. Hang in there. I recently bought my first turntable (Denon) since high school (1970s) and have been rediscovering beloved songs from my youth. I've lugged my old album collection from closet to closet for years now and it's a pleasure to finally here some forgotten gems. I'm also exploring the catalog of these older bands so this post was perfect timing for me.

"Back in the day, I did not buy Beatles and Stones albums. They were just too wildly popular and got way too much air play. Every time I turned on the radio in my rusty 1968 Mustang Grande (with malfunctioning gas gauge and mighty Thriftpower I-6) I heard their music. Now I have plenty of great old Beatles and Stones stuff to explore, and the comments are helping! Commercial for Mustang Grande—1968 (Flamenco music...'color this one cool').

Comments

I think you might need to adjust your intake of meds, Mike. How could you otherwise compile such a list and omit "You Can't Always Get What You Want?" (And yes, I know I just opened myself up to a snappy comeback on that song title. Go for it.) Get some more rest. It looks like you need it more than you realize.

The recording features guest vocals by Merry Clayton, recorded at a last-minute late-night recording session during the mixing phase, arranged by her friend and record producer Jack Nitzsche.
[ ... ]
Summoned - pregnant - from bed around midnight by producer Jack Nitzsche, Clayton made her recording with just a few takes then returned home to bed. It remains the most prominent contribution to a Rolling Stones track by a female vocalist.
[ ... ]
For the recording, Richards used an Australian-made Maton SE777, a large single-cutaway hollowbody guitar, which he had previously used on "Midnight Rambler". The guitar barely survived the recording before literally falling apart. "[O]n the very last note of 'Gimmie Shelter,'" Richards told Guitar World in 2002, "the whole neck fell off. You can hear it on the original take." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimme_Shelter

Perfect, except half of these are middling: Sympathy, Midnight, Monkey, Harlem, Wild, and Shattered should be replaced by Lady Jane and Play with Fire, as well as Street Fighting Man, Brown Sugar, Not Fade Away, and She Loves You.
Wait a minute, that last one was by someone else.

Oh, great choices! I always thought Monkey Man was under-appreciated. And Sympathy for the Devil belongs right up there near the top. And Shattered - yes! My only quibble is that I've never been a fan of Satisfaction -- sacrilege, I know.

I would demur on a few choices, like Harlem Shuffle, for one. I'd probably include Dead Flowers in it's place. And I'd also find room for Salt of the Earth and You Can't Always Get What You Want as well. And Let it Bleed. I concur that Gimme Shelter should be in the top spot.
Much harder would be picking The Beatles top ten.

Finally. After endless, tiring arguments online about controversial topics like "is the Earth round" or "are space launches fake", it's good to see a nice set of straightforward facts we all can agree on.

While I’d need some time to think more about this question, I immediately have to say that if cover songs are included, its hard not to include any one of the 4 first tracks on side 2 of Love You Live - Mannish Boy, Crack’in Up, Little Red Rooster, and (my nominee) Around and Around. Oh to have been at that club in Toronto that night...sigh.

The core of your list seems to be from their last blues album, Let It Bleed. That's the album that's always been where I can find it. Here's fighting words - did Hendrix put out an album as solid top to bottom? All I have of Aretha's and Stevie Wonder are chart toppers so I don't know if they have an album where the weakest song is as strong as Country Honk. Hey, I just lost two hours looking at albums!

Nothing from High Tides and Green Grass - clearly I'm an early arrival/departer for the Stones. I'd therefore need to include 19th Nervous Breakdown or some such. Sticky Fingers was probably my favorite 'later' album.

Curiously, I did the same with the Grateful Dead; Morning Dew is probably one of my faves from them.

But no "Paint It Black"!? Really great song. I don't think of it as just a Stones' song, even. It feels God-given (where God is some sort of rock-interested deity).

And I have a real soft spot for "She's Like a Rainbow."

The movie "Gimme Shelter" is also one of the best music documentaries. Seeing them live at their peak before the mess/tragedy that was Altamont... Quite honestly I was never a big fan of the Stones and especially Jagger (though I've always liked the songs we're discussing here, and "Exile") until I saw him onstage in the first 45 minutes of that film.

I'm with the "paint it black" crowd especially playing it too loud in the car. You get Brain Jones coming in hard on te right and then you just get thumped by Charlie Watts on the left and that is just during the intro!

I join those infuriated by the omission of 'Paint It Black', which is a million times better than 'Harlem Shuffle', but I'd keep 'Gimme Shelter' at the top anyway.
And I'd add 'Emotional Rescue' to a rather subjective list - mainly because I've danced to the sound of it so many times when I was in my teens. Oh the fond memories...

The Stones only did 4 albums worth bothering with from Beggar's Banquet to Exile. Now The Who, OTOH, even at their weakest were better than that. Time to listen the best album by either band, Who's Next and then get going on my day.

@Zave Shapiro, yes, Axis: Bold As Love. As for Stevie, I’m not entirely convinced the Stones have ever put out an album that’s as solid top-to-bottom as Talking Book, Innervisions, or Songs in the Key of Life are, and that’s saying something; as rock critic Dave Marsh put it (and I’m paraphrasing a bit, as I don’t have the quote in front of me), “The Stones are the greatest white R&B band of all time. This is fact, not opinion.” That seems to fit in with Mike’s theme here, too....

* Angie - can't omit that
* Like a Rolling Stone (Stripped album) - ok not their song but a great version

Some years ago we had a completely useless very senior manager. At a time of general discontent he emailed everyone quoting the track "you can't always get what you want". I was absolutely itching to reply, caustically, that I can't get no satisfaction. I bottled it in the end - decided it was probably a CLM (career limiting move)

Moonlight Mile? Happy? Loving Cup ? I believe the real difficulty for me is that once upon a time, way back when we had to walk home barefoot from school while being chased by dinosaurs, we listened to vinyl lps one side at a time. I can see ten best album sides (side four of "Exile On Mainstreet" being #1 obviously :P ). It's just too painful to think of all the incredible tunes you have to leave out. ;-)

It makes sense for you to be in music mode. Hang in there. I recently bought my first turntable (Denon) since high school (1970's) and have been rediscovering beloved songs from my youth. I've lugged my old album collection from closet to closet for years now and its a pleasure to finally here some forgotten gems. I'm also exploring the catalog of these older bands so this post was perfect timing for me.

Back in the day, I did not buy Beatles and Stones albums. They were just to wildly popular and got way to much air play. Every time I turned on the radio in my rusty 1968 Mustang Grande (with malfunctioning gas gauge and mighty Thriftpower I6) I heard their music. Now I have plenty of great old Beatles and Stones stuff to explore and the comments are helping!

Glad to see "Shattered" made the cut. Yes, it might be "kind of hokey" (as Jnny commented), but if someone asked me to boil down the essence of rock 'n roll to a single piece of music, it would be the bridge from that song.

As a long time Stones fan (seen them live four times) I’d have to have Paint it Black on there near the top along with Brown Sugar and Dead Flowers. I’d also include one that is not often heard because it is so long: Going Home. Just listen to it Mike, it’s an amazing track for a rock band to put out!